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The Beginning of a Long Break

1 Feb

Today is yet another public holiday (Federal Territory Day for selected states only) and the beginning of the long holiday break because Chinese New Year is just around the corner. I tell you, Malaysia has the most public holidays in a year! Just when things settle to a routine, bam, there’s a public holiday right there to tilt the balance.

The annual exodus of city dwellers leaving the city for their hometowns has begun. And we have decided not to join the crowd in the traffic snarl because I do not relish a ten-hour or thereabouts journey just to rush back to hubby’s hometown up North. To a certain extent, this long holiday stretch will see the exodus in staggered sessions which is good. I am pretty sure most travellers share the same sentiment as me, not wanting to be caught in a long slow drive.

Then again, today and Saturday will be the heaviest in traffic flow because the masses will want to maximize their time with family. For us, now that it’s just the two of us to be with hubby’s parents this year, we will only leave on Sunday morning. How long would our journey be? We will find out on Sunday itself. I will be prepared with lots of snacks, hot tea and plenty of music choices to make it a sheer driving pleasure. Gotta have a positive mindset here.

The Reunion Dinner is on Monday evening.

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Ugh! Monday

17 Dec

It’s always the case of needing another vacation to recover from the vacation that just concluded. Ugh! Monday.

The journey home yesterday took longer than necessary – five and a half hours, almost akin to our annual Chinese New Year trip back from hubby’s hometown up North. And this was from Penang which should be shorter. There were two stretches where the crawl was just so tiring and the rain didn’t help. After three hours, we changed drivers.

And the rain continued all the way home. Not feeling refreshed but quite the opposite, I did not even unpack, leaving it to today. Ugh! Monday and we have to be in the office.

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One Last Taste and Sight

16 Dec

We checked out and left Golden Sands Resort way before noon and much earlier than we normally would from a resort. For a change, it felt good not to rush.

We then detoured to visit hubby’s sister before we all made our way to Batu Lanchang Food Market. Finally we had our Char Kueh Teow along with other local fare (more Pasembur, Carrot Cake, Roast Pork, Otak-Otak and Fried Oysters).

After brunch, a quick visit to the Wet Market to buy fruits and experience some sights and smell before we bid Penang goodbye.

I pointed out to M2 the conventional way of how coconut milk is extracted, something teenagers these days do not get to see. I was equally amazed at the fruit stall selling bananas. So many variants!

By 2.00pm, we hit the new bridge and were on our way home.

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Know Your Breakfast Hours, Part 2

16 Dec

Today is our last day in Penang. Despite saying the night before that we will wake up early to have breakfast and a final round of sun and swim, we changed our minds this morning. As it is, the sky looked gloomy when we woke up. So we went back to sleep! But the sun did come out when we finally woke up. Oh well.

I think breakfast at this point is not important, doing what you like is better, which is to sleep in and not be in a hurry. Also I don’t think we can get an extension for a late check out if time was not on our side.

Imagine breakfast during the heavy traffic sector, I wouldn’t relax and might probably end up with an indigestion. There might not even be a table available and we would waste precious time waiting for one. Then getting a sun tan can’t get any faster because you can’t hurry the sun to burn you quicker. You know what I mean?

With the Resort’s occupancy at full capacity, they would want us to check out by noon and get the room ready for their next guest. Can’t blame them, it’s the holiday season.

So we took our time to pack, and will be having brunch instead at Batu Lanchang savoring local street food delicacies.

Goodbye Golden Sands, we had a good time. It will be some time before we come back again to experience your hospitality.

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Where Shall We Eat?

15 Dec

We all felt so lazy after the rain and just lazed in bed in the room until dinner time. And when it was time to go out, we decided to venture to the same area across the road from the resort opting for Chinese food this time.

It was simple choices of Assam Prawns, Mixed Vege, Sweet & Sour Pork and Steamed Clams. Sounds a lot for us with four dishes when we would normally order just three but I must say the portions were small.

The Clams had a tomyum oomph to it, laden with chili padi and enough flavors to tickle the tastebuds. And it was so strong that it overpowered the rest of the choices. Perhaps we ordered the others wrongly?

We were surprised to discover after the meal that the restaurant has Trip Advisor certificates! The certs were displayed proudly on the pillar in the middle of the place.

Put it this way, I certainly wasn’t impressed with the 30 minutes wait before our food was served. Hmm… we will have to give it another chance the next time I guess. Until then this experience aside, I must say we have had a fun and relaxing time this trip.

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A Lovely Morning

15 Dec

It was indeed a lovely morning after breakfast. The sun was bright and hot and I got toasted a wee bit while working on Codewords on the book instead of the phone, my dying iPhone5S.

An occasional dip in the sea then the pool, we couldn’t ask for more. By lunchtime, automatically our tummies were rumbling and we opted for sandwiches and a Tandoori pizza by the poolside.

Unfortunately, the beer that I intended to drink did not materialized as the mocktail Margarita concoction on the menu sounded very tempting, so we had a jug of it. It was very good and refreshing.

Feeling contented and with a light breeze blowing, the setup was perfect for a snooze! And we almost did but decided to go for another dip in the sea after resting long enough for the food to digest.

Soon after, our Penang friends dropped by the resort to catch up with us and it was nice to see them again. Amidst our chatter, the sky turned dark and cloudy again. Yes it rained.

Thank goodness I managed to work on my tan earlier in the morning. Let’s hope tomorrow, being our last day (how quickly time went by), I can still catch a bit more sun in the morning before we check out and leave for home.

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Know Your Breakfast Hours

15 Dec

I saw the signage the day before and decided that we should all wake up earlier than normal for an early breakfast before the crowd. It wasn’t easy because being on holiday, the tendency to sleep in is very strong.

We got there slightly before 8.30am and managed to get a table for a leisurely paced breakfast despite the noise and people building up. And the best part, the sun is out! Yay.

Needless to say, we will be lounging and doing nothing for the next few hours… I love Penang.

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Cloudy and Gloomy

14 Dec

The weather had other ideas for us, staying cloudy and gloomy. There was no sight of the sun. But that didn’t bother us too much as we still have the weekend.

And I, being old school and also having major battery problems with my iPhone5S resorted to a physical copy of Codewords whilst hubby napped and M2 was on her iPhone6. Eventually it did rain and we went back to the room to chill before deciding what to eat for dinner.

When technology fails you, a hard copy is best!

We opted to walk across the street from the resort to check out the street food stalls and was pleasantly satisfied with our choices. Spicy, generous in portions and very cheap, dinner was just as satisfying as our lunch earlier.

Pasembur Special (top), Assam Laksa with Egg (bottom left) & Ayam Penyet Special (bottom right)

All in all, despite the weather, it’s a good start. Let’s hope tomorrow the sun will be out for me to work on that tan.

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A Much Needed Break, Part 2

14 Dec

We left home at 9.09am for our much needed break. The drive was pleasant and unhurried but it rained after two hours on the road. Traffic was sparse; we saw and trailed a car with its tyres at an extreme angle. Other than for aesthetics, this intended modification serves no purpose for performance. The things people do for attention and they certainly caught ours!

By 12.30pm we stopped at Nibong Tebal for crab porridge and boiled squid, a must have and something we missed out the last few trips North. Very satisfying I must say.

After crawling pass the heavy traffic on the bridge, we made it to Golden Sands Resort and had to wait almost an hour for our room to be ready. The resort is packed apparently.

It was almost 4.00pm when we finally got our room and donned our swim wear to lounge by the pool.

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A Much Needed Break

14 Dec

We go off for our much needed break today! This year, M1 is not coming back for Christmas so the year-end family trip will just be the three of us.

Hopefully traffic won’t be heavy but we’re in no hurry. And it’ll be nice if the drive is a leisurely one without stress to Penang. We will of course detour to some favorite places along the way for food before we get to the island state.

I am really looking forward to spending my time lounging by the poolside, with a cold beer and hopefully, catch some sun to get a nice tan!

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